Aug 23, 2016 2 min read

I am befuddled by the information about Trinity High School’s financial issues.

I am disconcerted to learn that tens of thousands of dollars were paid to rent a field for the baseball team. That amount seems outrageously high. Is this amount standard for other schools? Where were games played before the current deal was made? How many fans attended the games at Consol Energy Park? Is there no other field with bleachers that could have been used? Who makes the decision to commit such a large amount of money? What are the criteria used to evaluate the priorities with respect to, say, payments to the pension fund? Although the fund seems to be continually underfunded, $25,000 or so is available to rent a baseball field? I don’t want to hear that it is from a different pot, because it is all tax dollars.

But wait, perhaps it can be made up through parking fees?

What are the criteria used to evaluate parking needs? The Trinity Area School District pays for buses to transport students. I understand that some students may need a vehicle to get to work or just choose to use their own cars. If so, is $1.00 a day, or $180.00 per year, too much? If yes, then free parking must be paid for by taxes, and therefore defended on its merits.

Tom Anderson

Washington